


Maiden of the Mist

by isadorator



Category: Homestuck, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Angst and Humor, Demigods, Denial, Gen, Ladystuck, Post-The Last Olympian, Pre-The Lost Hero, alternate pjo-ish title: jane misses her deadline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-17
Updated: 2015-01-17
Packaged: 2018-03-07 21:43:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3184199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isadorator/pseuds/isadorator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Greeks love their tragic heroes; every half-blood child must now be claimed before they're thirteen.</p><p>A lot of kids don't take it well. A few, like Jane, don't take it at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maiden of the Mist

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ribbontype](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ribbontype/gifts).



> I heard my giftee wanted a demigod au and I was like, sweet, I just finished the first PJO series last week, I totally got this. Of course, if there's any inconsistencies with the second series, it'll have to wait until I'm done reading it.
> 
> Also, it's not mentioned or hinted at in-text since I didn't have time, but Roxy is a daughter of Hermes and Dirk is a son of Aphrodite. I'll let you guys guess the rest.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this, dear OP! And thanks again to the Ladystuck mods for being so patient with me. :)

_You are seven when your class is assigned a project: plant a bean inside a cup of dirt and watch it sprout. It's a simple task, one tailor-made for kids, but you enjoy it. You put it by the window in your room for sunlight, water it whenever the soil seems dry, practice piano for it to keep it company. After a week, you plucked the pods its grown and plant more beans in styrofoam cups._

_Dad is so, so proud of you. He asks you to hand in one of the new sprouts for class instead of the whole bean plant. You ask why. He says he wants to transplant the bigger bean plant to the backyard. You could still pass with one of the little ones, after all. You happily agree._

_It's the start of your new garden, one that spreads to the edges of your backyard, hanging lazily over the neighbours' fences and creeping up the walls of your house._

_You love it so much you don't notice the new worry lines on your Dad's face._

* * *

It was the last day to hand in end-of-the-year projects and essays, so Jane woke up bright and early. She washed up and dressed down, wearing only her favourite t-shirt, a jean skirt, and a pair of well-worn sneakers. It paid to prepare, especially if you plan to haul two papers and a paper mache cell structure to the school bus, fully intending to protect them as if they were your life. At this point of Jane's academic career, they were.

Her Dad had already gone to work, leaving only the smell of fatherly aftershave and a pile of cooling pancakes on the kitchen table. There was also a girl she'd never seen before. She was sitting at Jane's kitchen table, already on her second stack.

"Who- What?!" Jane stammered. One alarmed step back and her hips met the edge of the kitchen counter. Fumbling for something to defend herself, Jane groped behind her without taking her eyes off the strange girl.

"Oh ho, you're up!" The girl said, grinning. She looked around the same age as Jane, with dyed red hair and sienna skin, her limbs all sharp and awkward from growth spurts. She wore an equally sharp pair of red sunglasses that covered half her face, most likely to keep her identity a secret. It was no wonder why she seemed utterly unconcerned with being a pancake burglar. "Goooood morning, sleeping beauty~! Had any interesting dreams lately?"

Jane had, in fact, a very disturbing dream, about a horrendous creature and its deal with maddeningly mysterious forces, but this was neither the time or the place. Her hand had finally grasped the handle of... something. Hoping for a knife or a frying pan, she quickly whipped it out in front of her with a loud, "AHA!"

The girl looked at the long wooden spoon being pointed at her. After a moment, she snickered. Jane's face felt hot with embarrassment as the girl went back to pouring maple syrup on her pancakes. Even after hearing that mocking laugh, Jane was stubborn enough to continue brandishing the spoon like a fine fencing sword.

"B-be quiet you! Who are you and what in the world are you doing in my house?!" she demanded. The girl paused mid-bite. She took a loud sniff of the air, moving her mouth like she was tasting something. Then, the girl smiled slowly and Jane felt like she was on the edge of a spiked pit trap, with a treasure room on the other side.

"You'll find out soon enough," she said. There was a sound like half a marathon suddenly running by and pausing before opening the back door. The kitchen doors swung open, revealing another girl.

"Terezi!! What's the deal with you just up and ditching - WHOA GUYS. HOLD UP." The new pancake burglar pushed her accomplices back through the doors against their loud protests. She put her hands out in front of her, open and placating. "Hey there, Janey. It's ok, it's just me. Roxy, remember? Bee-eff-effs for life? Sisters from different misters?"

Jane didn't notice she had pointed her culinary weapon at the girl until then. The girl who looked vaguely familiar. "Roxy?" Jane repeated, uncertain.

"Yeah! You remember, don't you?" Roxy said soothingly. "Now, I need you to do me a favour... and put the spoon down."

Jane's hands clenched tighter around the handle. A head with bleached hair peeked through the door. "Are fucking kidding me with this?" the owner muttered. The other strange girl provided background music by drumming dramatically on the table with her fork and knife.

"Janey," Roxy continued, pointedly ignoring the peanut gallery. "Put. The spoon. Down."

The person with bleached hair was Dirk, Jane realized, recognizing the thin figure from exchanged photos. Roxy was actually here, talking to her in person instead of through a chat screen. The dark-haired boy trying to push past both of them to hug her had to be Jake.

Jane felt the spoon drop from her fingers.

* * *

_You are ten when you meet the first of your online friends. She's a girl named Calliope. She's so nice and sweet, she's like an angel. You don't get along with the other kids in your class nearly as well as you do with her. Whenever you tell her this, she gets bashful and evasive and starts complementing you in return. When she asks you to join a group chat with her other friends, you don't hesitate for a second._

_It's there you meet Roxy and Dirk and Jake. You all become great pals and you start spending way more time online. You ask your Dad for a cellphone so you can stay in constant contact with your friends, but he refuses, saying you're still too young. You ask again at eleven and twelve but he keeps saying you're too young._

_You turn thirteen, with the light of golden wheat in your eyes and skepticism in your heart. You ignore the stories and advice and pleadings of your dearest friends. You ask for a cellphone._

_Your Dad looks at you like he doesn't know you._

* * *

The long and ridiculous explanation about escaping giants and furies and what-have-yous caused Jane to miss the bus. With no breakfast, no ride, and no truths forthcoming, a much crankier Jane ushered her self-invited guests out the door and locked up.

As punishment, Jane made Roxy hold her cell model, who immediately passed it off to Jake. Jane considered her essays, then the completely stoic Dirk with a katana strapped to his back, then Terezi-formerly-called-strange-girl-but-still-pretty-darn-strange. She decided to put the essays in her own bag.

Jane began marching down the empty street, the group trailing her like very large, very annoying ducklings.

"Why in the blazes am I the one holding this contraption?" Jake griped, peering carefully at the paper mache construction.

"Because you've gotten us almost wasted on this quest a grand total of three times, Jake. Deal with it," said Dirk. His tone sounded like he was talking about the weather. It only made it more obvious that this was all just another prank. These jokesters certainly liked to keep Jane on her toes!

"Yes, be a good plot token, Jake, and carry the other tokens," Terezi teased. "We'll save time rescuing our tokens if they're all in one place."

"My dear Ms. Pyrope, if you honestly believe that I can't rescue myself, I'll be happy to prove the opposite! WHICH IS THAT I CAN DEFEND MY OWN DAMNED ASS!!" Jake yelled. Terezi was delighted at the challenge.

"OH YEAH, VICTORY BOY? BRING IT!!"

" _WILL YOU GUYS PIPE DOWN BACK THERE?!_ " Roxy roared. The three held their banter at exactly the same volume. Roxy sighed and put her hand on Jane's shoulder. "Janey, listen to me, it's not good for a bunch of half-bloods to hang out in the open like this. There's already way more monsters here then there should be and more are gonna follow us. You can't stay here right now. We need to head to camp and -"

Jane interrupted her with a scoff, shrugging off Roxy's hand and picking up her pace.

"Roxy, this whole demigod prank is a good one. I mean, I still can't figure out how you guys got that picture to glow over my head. You even roped my Dad into it!" Jane smiled ruefully and shook her head. "Dad, my half-brother? And Poppop and a harvest goddess as my birth parents? C'mon, Roxy!"

Silence. Jane chanced a look behind her and saw all four of them staring at her. Exactly the same way her father did two months ago. Suddenly, Jane wasn't half-amused. She was all mad.

"This joke on me has gone on long enough! You can't expect me to actually believe this tripe, do you?!" she shouted. "Greek gods and monsters and demigods and - and centaurs or whatever, they're all real? And I'm one of them? That we're all one of them?! It's so ridiculous! How stupid do you think I am?"

"You're not listening-" Dirk started but Jane huffed angrily, turning to walk away.

A hand grabbed hers suddenly, forcing her to spin around. Terezi's grip was almost painful as she gazed at Jane. She reached up with her free hand and pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head. Behind them were wide, cloudy grey eyes. Terezi's pupils didn't change with the new light on them and Jane stared back in shock. Terezi was blind.

"Jane Crocker, daughter of Demeter," she began, leaning closer, almost nose-to-nose with Jane. "You're proud. You're stubborn. You're wilfully oblivious. You're _not_ stupid, but you're going to get someone killed if you don't stop _acting_ like it. If you're not careful, it'll end up as your fatal flaw. Stop being so pathetic and get it together."

Jane glared back at her, trying to hide her shivers.

"You don't know what you're talk-"

"JANE!" a voice shouted. A new person came running up to them, wearing a white wig and a worn green suit. Jane felt relieved for the distraction and waved joyfully, flagging them down.

"CALLIOPE! Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes? How have you been-"

Terezi interrupted Jane by shoving her behind the rest of the group, a sharp cane topped with a reptile skull appearing in her hand. Dirk pushed Jake next to her and suddenly Terezi with her cane, Dirk with his sword, and Roxy with a rifle she hadn't seen before were holding a defensive line in front of them. To protect them from... Calliope?

"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!" Jane yelled. She tried to step forward, but Jake held her back, shaking his head. She growled and forcefully shook him off to run forward, dodging the others to get to her friend. Her only sane friend, it felt like.

Calliope looked tired and hurt, her clothing cut up and soaked in places with blood. Jane was at her side instantly, supporting her friend's shaky stance.

"Jane, if you don't want to become a pretty corpse, leave them and get over here," Terezi said, pointing her cane at Calliope. Jane examined Calliope, trying to locate the worst of the wounds, ignoring Terezi. Calliope didn't.

"You need to... leave. Now. Before my... my brother's cronies..." Calliope whispered hoarsely then coughed, more blood splattering on the ground. Roxy and Jake made the same stricken noise and even Dirk frowned, sword point lowering an inch. Only Terezi, unseeing eyes trained on the pair in front of her, seemed utterly unmoved.

"Why should we believe you?" Terezi asked mercilessly. "I can taste the Mist on you. It's so thick I can't even tell what you are. I bet the others can't see through it either." She stepped forward and Jane stepped back warily with Calliope. "You're the reason Forest Greenhorn here isn't safe on his island anymore, why we're on this quest in the first place. You're even dragging the Blue Wonder into your mess."

"I'm sorry. But my... he's going to destroy everyone. Demigods. Mortals. Monsters. The gods themselves. Even me. I don't... I don't want... anyone to die." Her voice was even weaker than before. Her legs collapsed and she started crying.

* * *

_You are thirteen and two months when you meet Calliope. She waits outside your school entrance, waving and jumping to get your attention. She sent an e-mail saying she was coming but you didn't expect her so soon. You're still happy. She's the first of your online friends that you've met in person._

_You ask about her eye-catching wig and suit. She says it's a fashion choice as much as a necessity. You were never one to get too involved in the ever-evolving art of personal fashion, so you leave it at that. You ask her what brought her here._

_She tells you she saw Jake on his island and that she wanted to see you before visiting Dirk and Roxy at the camp they lived at, Camp Half-Blood. You laugh and tell her they're just pulling her leg._

_Calliope turns to look at you. Very solemnly, she asks if you believe in the Greek gods, their demigod children, the fabled monsters they fight, and all that it entails. You laugh again, waving your hand as if to wave the whole matter off. Gods and monsters actually existing is a preposterous idea, of course you don't believe it. Even Sherlock Holmes said the world was big enough, ghosts - or other supernatural beings - need not apply! You tell Calliope that she really shouldn't listen to that sort of nonsensical jibber jabber from their friends._

_She looks down and says nothing._

* * *

Jane didn't notice the woman creeping up on them, too busy trying to calm down Calliope. The rest of the group did.

Terezi ran forward while Dirk and Roxy kept point in front of Jake. She jumped over where Jane and Calliope were crouching and rolled when hitting the ground, coming up to slash the woman at her knees. The woman dodged around the tip of the cane and headed straight for the two of them.

Looking up at her, Jane thought the woman looked like a soccer mom who had been to one too many PTA meetings. Her hair was a frazzled mess and she dragged her feet with every step, looking tired and desperate. She didn't look that scary until she lunged forward with a hissed "For Lord Caliborn!" and Jane felt something slam into her side. By the time Jane stopped skidding thirty feet away, the soccer mom was already tearing into Calliope. Calliope, who had somehow pushed her away.

"NO!" Jane cried, scrambling to get up. Terezi got there first, running her cane through the soccer mom and kicking her off Calliope's still, still body.

"Dracanae," Terezi said in disgust, flicking the blood off her cane. It fell into a pool of Calliope's blood and Jane was horrified, unable to believe what had happened. She blinked and the soccer mom's body disappeared, leaving behind something that Terezi picked up. "A snake scale?! Laaaame. Who the heck is this Caliborn guy it was talking about anyway?" she asked, like she didn't really care that Calliope was...

She was gone too. Just like that.

" _And the blind one will cheat death / with a dear companion's final breath_ ," Roxy sobbed through her tears. Jane stared at the spot Calliope's body once lay. She didn't understand. The world didn't make sense anymore. "The prophecy wasn't talking about Terezi at all, was it?"

"I told you it wasn't." Terezi sounded annoyed. She reached into the pool of blood and pulled out a wicked-looking fang. The blood disappeared as Terezi felt what Calliope left behind. "Huh. This _feels_ like a drakon tooth, but it's way too small..."

Roxy was crying into Jake's shoulder and Jake was crying too, holding her close. Dirk hadn't moved from his defensive stance but his hands were shaking. He swallowed.

"That doesn't belong to you," he said roughly. Terezi chuckled like it was all a joke, that Calliope dying to save Jane was just another joke, and something in Jane snapped. She screamed and charged recklessly at Terezi, pulling a fist back to punch Terezi in the face. Her sunglasses flew off and clattered against the ground, but Terezi recovered quickly. In an instant, Jane was on the ground as well, her arms wrenched up behind her and Terezi's knee pressing painfully into the small of her back. Terezi leaned down so her mouth was level with Jane's ear.

"I _told_ you so," Terezi crooned and it made Jane _furious_. She struggled against the other girl's grip but was slammed into the ground again for her efforts. "You're lucky your friend is a monster, there's a chance that they'll come back from Tartarus with their memories intact."

"Shit, the lady's right!" Jake shouted hysterically and began pulling Dirk into the hug. "Guys!! I know what I want do for my first quest!"

The atmosphere felt lighter around the three of them but Jane was still angry. Terezi decided to grind Jane's face deeper into the pavement.

"Like I said, you're stubborn, so you probably still think what's-their-face is dead for good," Terezi stated. Jane didn't think that, she _knew_ that, but she couldn't speak through her rage and grief. "Maybe they are, who knows? But until you learn to pull your head out of your ass and see through the Mist, you're a liability. Chiron won't let you leave the camp. You'll be stuck there and your friends will leave you behind to keep you from getting them killed. Like you got the monster killed."

"Calliope is not a monster!" Jane managed to yell and Terezi cackled, long and loud. Roxy finally removed herself from the group hug and pulled Terezi off of Jane.

"That's enough, Terezi," Roxy said, helping Jane up. Her hands were cold on Jane's arm and tears were still drying on her cheeks. Jane felt lost and mad and awful. "You can keep the scale, but that tooth is Calliope's. I'm giving it back to her as soon as we can find her."

"You're not the boss of me!" Terezi huffed. She stuffed the scale into her pants pocket and hid the tooth behind her back.

"I'm leader of this quest, so, _yeah_ , I kinda am." Roxy held out her hand. " _Now_ , Terezi. Before more monsters get here."

Terezi reluctantly handed over the tooth, pouting the whole time. Then she turned her attention to Jane and smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.

"My sister's boyfriend is a Hecate kid, he can probably give you some tips. _If_ you get to camp alive."

Jane's science project was smashed, stepped on sometime during the fight. Her bag had been left next to Calliope. Even if the pool was gone, the bag was still soaked with blood. Jane remembered Calliope's face when she pushed her away from the soccer mom. It had been so determined.

"Jane, let's go," Roxy said, tugging on her arm.

A woman was dead. Calliope was dead, because of her. Jane still didn't believe in gods, but she can't even imagine going back home and pretending that everything was okay, that everything was exactly the same.

She went with them, leaving her school things behind.

* * *

_You are thirteen, two months, and three days. You arrive at camp with only three friends in the world and a bed waiting for you at Cabin Four. You let your friends handle contacting your Dad. It's not fair to them, but you don't care right now. You don't want to talk to him. You don't want to talk to anyone._

_People, however, want to talk to you. A man in a wheelchair comes into the cabin and tells you he'll show you around in the morning. Your cabinmates - your supposed half-siblings - force you to go to dinner. They tell you it's customary to throw a portion of a meal into the bonfire in the centre of the dining area, as an offering to the gods. Usually to your godly parent._

_ > Offer a sacrifice to Demeter _

_You don't want to do that. You would hate her if she was actually real.  
_

_You aren't hungry._

_Silently, you walk up to the fire and throw your dinner, plate and all, into the flames. Hades was the Greek god of the dead, right? You might as well try asking him to take care of Calliope for you. It's your fault she's dead.  
_

_For a second, the crackle of burning logs sound like someone laughing at you._


End file.
